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Alan Shearer can steady ship

The voice of sport

They have been for so long the lost tribe of English football that we can hardly be surprised to find the supporters of Newcastle United more influenced by totems and folk memories than by practicality. Looking back across decades of bleakness, they are bound to cherish anybody who brought even fleeting respite from the gloom and it was natural for a majority of them to yearn to welcome either Kevin Keegan or Alan Shearer as the latest arrival through the revolving door of the St James' Park manager's office.

So euphoria is rampant now that the second coming of Keegan has been made a reality by Mike Ashley, a club-owner who is nothing if not populist, and it is sure to grow more strident if speculation about the enlisting of Shearer as No 2 materialises into a double-act of northeast legends.